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THEME: ARCHITECTURE Form 10-300 UNITED STATEt DEFATRrfilRT WrHETKITERI OR STATE: (Rev. 6-72) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Virginia COUNTY: NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PL ACES Independent City PAT1QFAL -T ": ^ INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR.NPS USE ONLY ENTRY DATE (Type all entries - complete applicable sec ^ions)

COMMON: James Semple House AND/OR HISTORIC: James Semple House

STREET ANDNUMBER: Francis Street: South side, between Blair and Waller Streets CITY OR TOWN: CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Williamsburg 001 STATE COD E COUNTY: CODE Virginia 51 Independent C^itv $3Q

STATUS ACCESSIBLE uo CATEGORY OWNERSHIP (Check One) TO THE PUBLIC Z Q District JgJ Building d Public Public Acqui sition: ££] Occupied Yes: O Q Site Q Structure 81 Private Q In F 'rocess r-, Unoccupied D Restricted D Object D Both D Bei ng Considered n p reservation work D Unrestricted 1- in progress £^ No

u PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate)

uo | | Entertainment 1 1 Museum | | Scientific z OWNER'S N AME: STATE- Virginia Colonial Williamsburg, Tnc. narii<;ip H. HUTT^ !«-;«<= President. UJ STREET AND NUMBER: ~" UJ Cl TY OR TOWN: STATE: CODF Williamsburg 23185 Virginia 51 iiiii®iiij®i» COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC: £3° Clerk of the Circuit Court, James Citv Countv r+ O-c STREET AND NUMBER-. 3" Court Street (2 blocks south of Duke of Gloucester st .^ Cl TY OR TOWN: STATE CODE 3 rt Williamsburg Virginia 51 piiiiiiiiiiiiilliiiiiiii^ TITLE OF SURVEY: ENTR Historic American Buildings Survey O DATE OF SURVEY: 1938 flC Federal |~~1 State Q County |~~1 Loca NUMBER1 70 DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: Z-o C/l Library of Congress C C/l STREET AND NUMBER: m O Capitol Hill r-z CITY OR TOWN-. STATE: CODE Washington D.c. n DATE (Check One)

Excellent Good | | Fair | | Deteriorated II Ruins || Unexposed CONDITION (Check One) (Check One) Altered Q Unaltered Moved jXj Original Site

DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

The James Sample House is a frame house with clapboarding, having a two-storey rectangular center section with pedimented gable roof, gable- end to the front, and two interior end-chimneys. The entrance is a Roman Doric porch, with dentil pediment and eaves, and a remarkable guilloche on its architrave, a feature probably suggested by The Builder's Companion of William Pain, published in London in 1765.

Flanking the center are one storey wings with gable roofs to the side. They too are frame, with clapboarding, containing the dining room to the east, and a large drawing room to the west. In the center section, originally, was a large salon with a fireplace at the west side. In the nineteenth century, a partition was set up to subdivide the room, forming a narrow east-west hall between the wings.

The two small bedrooms in the upper level of the center section are reached by a narrow, steep, and winding staircase, contained in the East wing of the house, concealed behind the chimney in a manner similar to that used in the drawings for the first Monticello. Indeed, authorship of the design of the Semple House is often ascribed to Thomas Jefferson, who was a resident of Williamsburg when the house was constructed c. 1770- 1780. Jefferson's first drawing for Monticello (1768), according to Water man, "paralells the design of the Randolph-Semple House to such a degree that there can be no doubt that they are by the same author."

The Semple House lies at the far eastern end of Williamsburg, in fact, east of the Capitol which is the eastern terminus of the Duke of Gloucester Street east-west axis. The house was acquired and restored by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in 1932, after it had passed through the hands of several owners in the nineteenth century. It had been changed little, but had fallen by 1932 into some state of disrepair. The east chimney was rebuilt, as were the front porch steps. On the porch, square piers were removed and replaced with columns. The guilloche on the archi trave was restored after traces of the original. A wing attached to the south of the center block, added 1806-1823, was also removed. The nine teenth century hall partition remains in place.

The Semple House, fortunately, is another of those in Williamsburg whose eighteenth century boundaries may still be followed on surviving deed records and maps. This then is the basis for the most reasonable boundary for this Landmark now.

Interestingly, a portion of Williamsburg was laid out according to a system of 5-pole measurements, the age-old measure deriving from medieval agricul tural methods. A pole being approximately 5 1/2 yards, a 5-pole lot then would be about 82 1/2 feet. The maps show that the eighteenth century property lines of the James Semple House begin at a point on Francis Street 247.5 feet (15 poles) west of Waller Street, continuing east-west for 165 feet (10 poles). This is two lots, and they were never numbered. The lot PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) 0 Pre-Columbian | D 16th Century 18th Century 20th Century

[H 15th Century D 17th Century 19th Century

SPECIFIC DATE(s) (If Applicable and Known) 1770-1780

AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate)

Abor iginal Q Education Q Political || Urban Planning | | Prehistoric n Engineering [-] Religion/Phi- Q Other (Specify) | | Historic G Industry losophy

[~1 Agriculture n Invention Q Science

[J<3 Architecture n Landscape Q Sculpture

D Art Architecture f-) Socia l/Human-

| | Conservation I I Music Q] Transportation

TATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

The James Semple Rouse is an excellent example of Palladio's "Roman

*/> Country House" adapted for use as a frame townhouse. It is a dis tinguished and early example of the classicism which began to change z the American architectural scene towards the end of the 18th century. o Its beauty derives largely from its perfect proportions, enhanced by delicate classical detailing. Although there is disagreement among architectural experts, the authorship of the design of the James Semple u House is often ascribed to Thomas Jefferson, who was a resident of Williamsburg when the house was built c. 1770-1780. Its design has a remarkable affinity to those done by Jefferson for his first Monticello in 1768.

LJJ u Marcus Whiffen, The Eighteenth Century Houses of Williamsburg (Williams- burg I960)". —————————— Thomas T. Waterman, The Dwellings of Colonial America (Chapel Hill, 1950). Thomas T. Waterman, The Mansions of Virginia (Chapel Hill, 1946). Hugh Morrison, Early American Architecture^ (New York, 1952). Edith T. Sale, Interiors of Virginia Houses of Colonial Times(Richmond.1927 Richard Pratt, A Treasury of Early American Homes (New York, 1949).

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES LATITUDE AND LONGIT'JDE COORDINATES DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY DEFINING THc. C-trcTSR POIN I OF A PROPERTY R OF LES_S THAN TEN ACRES LATITUDE LONGITUDE UTM LATITUDE LONGITUDE Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds NW O . NE SE 18.349860.4125980 SW APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY:: Qnf> [LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE: CODE COUNTY

NAME AND Tl TLE: James Dillon Architectural Histori ORGANIZATION aiL National Historic Landmarks, Historic Sites Survey 10/16/74 STREET AND NUMBER: 1100 L. Street, N.W CITY OR TOWN: Washington D.C JJL

As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law I hereby certify that this property is included in the 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion National Register, , in the National Register and certify that it has been 'Landmark evaluated according to the c-iteria and procedures set Iteciynaied : forth by the National Park Service. The recommended id Historic Preservation C 3tG level of significance of this nomination is: Director, Office of Archeology oundjjry Cor/ified: National Q State Q Local Q [{NATIONAL !IT.oT v ' : " A ft ghiuf. Iliul. & Name ATTEST: Arch. Surveys

Title jJoinndcry AUlraed:~

Keeper of The /w Tor^l'K6^fsi6f Director, OAII? Date Date Form 10-300a UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (July 1969) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Virginia NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM Independent City .(MTIONAL FOR NPS USE ONLY (Continuation Sheet) ENTRY NUMBER (Number all entries) 7. Description second page

line runs back from the east-west line 264 feet, exactly 16 poles.

Colonial Williamsburg has constructed a number of small buildings on these four lots. None of them are original therefore. A small kitchen building a few feet to the east of the James Semple House is the only other original building on the site. The house is still owned by the Colonial Williamsburg corporation and is used as a residence for one of its executive employees. It is well maintained, but not open to the public. The boundary line set by Colonial Williamsburg around the property is co-extensive with the historical justi fication just delivered.

GP 0 921-724 s £f\PLE OUS£

RECONSTRUCTIONS

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